Up in Flames
''Up in Flames ''is the third studio album by Canadian recording artist Josh Kingston. It was released on 28 June 2013 by Banana Music under a partnership with Indigo Records and Thirteen Records in association with Kingdom Music. Development for the album first began in March 2012 while recording sessions took place during the first half of 2013. The album is a follow-up to his 2012 album In January. The album sees a return of his standard alternative rock genre, however replaces his signature pop rock sound with new genres including funk, disco, and R&B. Kingston has stated the album was influenced by "70's funk and psychedelic music", while the album also compromises an "R&B-rock flare". The album's lead single "Charlie Brown" was released on 3 March 2013, followed by its second single "Madness", released on 19 April 2013 and its third single "Get Lucky", released on 6 June 2013. Upon release,'' Up in Flames'' received positive reviews from music critics, who praised Kingston's ability to utilize numerous unique genres and complimented his improving talent; although some critics noted that his vocal ability was at times subpar. Kingston continued promotion of the album following its release - its fourth single, "Strawberry Swing" was released on 21 July 2013, and its fifth and final single "Talk" will be released on 30 September 2013. A re-release of the album, Up in Flames: Deluxe Edition, is planned to be issued on 11 February 2014. Development history 'March–December 2012: Early development & title' In March 2012, Kingston announced his intentions to record a third album. Initially, Kingston had planned to have his third album consist entirely of original music, and he was hoping to spend the majority of the remainder of the year writing for the album. However, Banana Music advised him that the process of recording an original album would be strenuous and time consuming, so Kingston subsequently decided to have his third album consist of mainly covers. Despite this, he continued writing original songs, which he planned to incorporate onto his third album or onto other future releases. Following the release of'' In January: Four Seasons'' in June 2012, Kingston had an online conference with Banana Music founder, Nick Roads, where they discussed Kingston's third album. During this conference, Kingston expressed interest to begin recording his third album in September 2012 for a potential April 2013 release, similar to what was done with his second album (which began recording in September 2011 and was released in April 2012). However, after looking through files on his computer, Kingston recovered audio from recording sessions from his second album, and decided to release a second re-release, In January: The Complete Collection, which was released in November. Due to the promotion of The Complete Collection, Kingston postponed the start of recording for his third album. In December 2012, while putting together the theme of the album, Kingston was looking for inspiration and came across pictures of the city of Amsterdam, as well as Joseph Mallord William Turner's The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons paintings, which depict the 1834 burning of the Palace of Westminster. Following this, Kingston decided to give a "firey European" persona to the album. After discovering the song "Up in Flames" by Coldplay, Kingston decided to cover the song and name the album after it, although the song was ultimately not included on the record. He also chose to record the song "Lost" by Frank Ocean, which includes a reference to Amsterdam, and the song "Amsterdam" by Coldplay - however neither of the songs made the final cut of the album. He briefly considered naming the album Amsterdam. Later on in the album's recording process, Kingston became inspired by Jamaica after deciding on a Summer release and travelling to the Carribean country. The background image on the album is a photo that Kingston took during a bus tour in Montego Bay, Jamaica in July 2012. 'January–June 2013: Recording & release' Kingston began recording his third album on 1 January 2013. The first song he recorded for the album was "Madness". Following this, he recorded the tracks "Tonight I'm Getting Over You", "Cinema", and "I Need Your Love". After realizing the album was becoming an EDM and dubstep album, Kingston decided that he wanted the album's overall sound to be completely different and all three of these songs were dropped. Later that month, he had another online conference with Roads, where hethey discussed the title, release date, and release strategy for his new album. During this conference, Kingston expressed dissatisfaction with the album so far and announced his intention to scrap the album's EDM and dubstep tracks. He told Roads that he wanted to make "a funk rock and R&B summer album" that contained minimal electronic influences and sounded "very 1970's disco funk-esque" while "capturing the emotion of modern alternative rock". Roads advised him to listen to the music of Frank Ocean, Bruno Mars, Michael Jackson, Queen, Pink Floyd, and Tame Impala. In February, Banana Music stated they wished to release the album during the last week of April 2013, however Kingston estimated that the album would not be completed until May. Kingston told his label that he would have enough finished songs to choose a single by the end of February. He continued recording the album, and initially chose to release "State of Grace" as the lead single. However, he changed his mind regarding the single several times, chosing songs such as "Madness", "End of Time", "Locked Out of Heaven" and "Clocks". At the end of February, he submitted "Clocks" to Banana Music to release as the lead single, however changed the single to "Charlie Brown" at the last minute. On 3 March 2013, he announced a June 2013 release for the album, which was later specified as 23 June in an 8 April announcement. As recording for the album reached a climax, Kingston noticed that he had only recorded one song by a female during recording sessions and decided to make the album "masculine while still having poignant moments". He stated the album would be "funner and generally happier" than his first two albums. Kingston took a recording hiatus in March and recording resumed the following month. On 21 April, he announced that the album was finished, however that he would record the final song in May. However, on 6 May, he stated that he was still recording new songs for the album. He spent the rest of May re-recording several tracks and briefly considered scrapping the two already-released singles. On 1 June, he announced the album's release had been pushed back to 28 June. A few days later, he scrapped half of the album and re-recorded and replaced several tracks in order to make the album "less idiosyncratic and more enjoyable". In order to do this, he removed the only two original songs that he had written himself for the album, which he described as "too psychedelic" to fit the album's theme. A total of twenty-three tracks were recorded for the album, however only ten made the final cut. Recording for the album was completed on 25 June and the album was turned in later that day, however its final mix was not approved by Nick Roads and three songs: "Elephant", "Sweater Weather", and "Strawberry Swing" required re-mixing. Kingston re-produced the tracks and turned in the album on 27 June. The final mix was approved three hours before the album's release. The album was released as planned on 28 June for digital download via SendSpace. 'July 2013–present: Subsequent promotion & reissues' "Strawberry Swing" was released as the album's fourth single on 21 July 2013. The album impacted digital streaming service Chirbit on 15 August with a revised track listing. "Talk" will be released as the fifth and final single on 30 September. Banana Music Group announced on 25 September 2013 that Up in Flames: Deluxe Edition will be released on 11 February 2014. The deluxe edition will contain two new songs. Singles 'Official singles' *"Charlie Brown" premiered as the album's lead single on 3 March 2013 via a highly anticipated and publicized USTREAM. The song was released for digital download and online streaming on the same day. It impacted Banana Radio on 4 March. *"Madness" premiered as the album's second single on Banana Recordz Countdown on 15 April 2013. The song had been planned for digital download and online streaming release on 16 April, however was delayed to 19 April in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. Prior to official release, Kingston leaked the song on his Chirbit account on 12 April. *"Get Lucky" was released as the album's third single on 6 June 2013. Upon initial release, the song became available for digital download via SendSpace and online streaming via Chirbit. It was released for online streaming via YouTube on 11 June. A music video for the song was filmed on 23 June and is awaiting release. The song will impact Banana Radio on 8 October. *"Strawberry Swing" was released for digital download via SendSpace on 21 July 2013 as the album's fourth single. It was released for online streaming via Chirbit on 30 July. A music video for the song was filmed on 9 August and is awaiting release. A lyric video was released on 20 August. The song will impact Banana Radio on 20 August. *"Talk" will be released on 30 September 2013 as the fifth and final single from the standard edition of the album and the sixth overall single. The song will be sent to Banana Radio on 1 October. 'Promotional singles' "I Need Your Love" was released for online streaming via Chirbit on 2 April 2013, after premiering on Banana Recordz Countdown the previous day. The song was released as a promotional single primarily to promote Kingston's appearance as a guest host on the 8 April episode of Countdown. After the album's track listing was revamped and Kingston scrapped several of the album's songs, "I Need Your Love" was ultimately emitted from the final track listing and therefore did not appear on the album. The album's second promotional single, "Treasure" was released on 27 June 2013 for online streaming via Chirbit. The song was the final song to be released prior to the album's release, and was primarily intended to promote the SendSpace download release of Up in Flames. "Bad Religion" was released as the album's third promotional single on 30 July 2013 for online streaming via Chirbit. It was the first post-album release promotional single and was intended to promote the Chirbit streaming release of the album. Josh Kingston released two promotional singles on 15 September 2013 for online streaming via Chirbit. The first, "Locked Out of Heaven" was released as the album's fourth promotional single, while the second, "Talk" was released as the album's fifth and final promotional single. Promotion 'General promotion' Kingston began promoting the album in Fall 2012; prior to the commencement of recording. The album was largely promoted through Twitter, while the video sharing service Cinegram was also used to promote the album in June 2013. A banner for the album also appeared on Banana Music's website and several promotional videos were uploaded to the Banana Television YouTube channel. Following the album's release, Banana Music described the album as the "most-promoted record" in the label's history. In May 2013, Kingston declared plans to release every song on the album as either a single, promotional single, or radio-only single, however later cancelled these plans after switching to a new publishing company. 'Live performances' Kingston plans to hold a live show on UStream in November 2013 where he will perform several songs from the album. On 16 September 2013, it was announced that Kingston would perform "Talk" during the first semiannual Banana Music Group Press Event on 30 November. Composition Kingston has stated that he considers the album to be made up of two entirely different moods and atmopsheres - with the first half of the album containing "fun funky Summer songs" and the second half of the album primarily consisting of "slower alternative and indie rock tracks". The album is predominantly made up of the alternative rock, funk, disco, and R&B genres, while also including post-Britpop, psychedelic rock, electronic rock, synthpop, reggae, rock, and neo-soul. The album's opening track "Talk" is a "breezy" alternative rock track originally recorded by Coldplay for their 2005 album X&Y. "Madness", the album's second track, is an electronic rock and synthpop track originally recorded by Muse for their 2012 album The 2nd Law that Kingston describes as "intense". "Charlie Brown", an alternative rock and electronic rock track originally recorded by Coldplay for their 2011 album Mylo Xyloto, serves as the album's third track - with Kingston describing it as "a Spring weather" song that is "light and airy". The album's fourth track "Get Lucky" is a funk disco track originally recorded by Daft Punk for their 2013 album Random Access Memories and featuring Pharrell that Kingston describes as "sensually Summer". The album's fifth track is the indie rock song "Sweater Weather", originally recorded by The Neighbourhood for their 2013 album'' I Love You'', which Kingston describes as one of the album's "more intense moments". The album's sixth track is "Strawberry Swing", originally recorded by Coldplay for their 2008 album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, however Kingston replaces the lyrics with the ones of Frank Ocean's 2011 Nostalgia Ultra version, which Kingston describes as "nostalgic and emotional". The album's seventh song "Locked Out of Heaven", originally recorded by Bruno Mars for his 2012 album Unorthodox Jukebox is a new wave, funk, and reggae rock track that Kingston describes as "really fun and sexy". The album's eighth track "Elephant" is a psychedelic rock track originally recorded by Tame Impala for their 2012 album Lonerism that KIngston describes as "bangingly high" and "very rock-ish". The ninth and penultimate track "Treasure", recorded by Bruno Mars for 2012's Unorthodox Jukebox is a disco and funk song that Kingston compared to "Get Lucky", calling it "a lot of fun and totally care-free". The album's final track "Bad Religion", originally recorded by Frank Ocean for his 2012 effort Channel Orange is an R&B neo-soul song that sees the album take "a very emotional turn", with Kingston describing it as "heart-breaking" and "the most poignant song on the record, by far". Track listing The official track listing for the album was kept a secret and was not released prior to the album's release, however many rumored track listings were released prior to the album's release. The track listing for the Chirbit Edition of the album was unveiled on 3 July 2013. Release history Critical reception Upon release, Up in Flames received positive reviews from music critics, who praised Kingston's improved vocals and his ability to utilize several genres.'' First Stop News'' gave the album a 79%, calling it Kingston's best album to date. In the review, the news port stated, "With his latest effort, Kingston offers listeners; vocally and song-choice wise, his best album to date. While his previous records have consisted of strong alternative and pop rock influences, Kingston shows with Up in Flames that he is not scared to experiment with other genres - giving listeners a highly-diversified and unique musical experience. Although Kingston's vocal ability is clearly continuing to develop and strengthen, his talent has improved remarkably in the last year, and with his newly-found musical stance, it is clear that Kingston's highly-anticipated upcoming original album will be an exciting and unique effort". Briser le Bordeaux Nouvelles published a positive review, giving the album 8.2 out of 10 stars, and stating, "Although Kingston's vocal ability is obviously still improving, he has created an exciting funk-rock album that displays and shows off his unique taste for music and shows that he is starting to become a respectable and diverse musician". Re-release 'Cancelled re-release' On 3 July 2013, Kingston announced that Up in Flames would be re-released in autumn under the title Up in Flames: Watered Down; containing three to six new tracks. It was subsequently announced that "Use Somebody", the lead single from Watered Down, would be released on 10 September and Watered Down was given a November release. However, a few days before its release, "Use Somebody" was postponed. A few days later, "Use Somebody"'s release was moved to 1 November and Watered Down's release date was moved to February 2014'' due to the November release of ''Carols. However, Watered Down and "Use Somebody" were both cancelled on 25 September. 'Deluxe edition' On 25 September 2013, Banana Music Group announced that the release of Watered Down had been cancelled and replaced with Up in Flames: Deluxe Edition, which will contain two new tracks and will be released on 11 February 2014. Its as-of-yet unannounced lead single will be released in January 2014.